For September, NEAFA spoke with Heather Dann, President of the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute, and Rachel Dutil, PR & Marketing Coordinator for the institute. “The William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute (Miner Institute) is the present-day manifestation of the philosophy and principles once embodied by William Miner on Heart's Delight Farm,” said Dutil. “Since its creation in 1951 in Chazy, NY, the principal function has been, and continues to be, the improvement of agricultural operations through research, education, and demonstration. Miner Institute conducts integrated, cutting-edge education, research, and demonstration programs that optimize the biological and economic relationships among forage-crop production, dairy and equine management, and environmental stewardship.”
For Dann, agriculture is a lifelong passion. “I grew up on a dairy farm in the Finger Lakes region,” said Dann. “My dad instilled in me an interest in agriculture, and the value of lifelong learning. I was involved with 4H growing up, and attended Cornell for a Bachelor’s of Science in Animal Science. Unlike a lot of my classmates, I wasn’t interested in becoming a vet, but the research that you could do on the science path was very interesting to me. After graduating, I went to Pennsylvania State University, where I received my Master’s of Science degree. When I went to University of Illinois for my Ph. D., their dairy nutrition and management program gave me a greater perspective on the scale of dairy farming in the Midwest versus the Northeast. I knew that I wanted to make research a focus for my career, and I was intrigued by what I saw was happening at the Miner’s Institute. Their research and applied science is helping farmers locally, nationally, and internationally. I joined as a research scientist in 2004, and after 20 years in that role, I became the president in January of 2024.”
With their focus on education, it’s no surprise that NEAFA and the Miner Institute have a long relationship. “We benefit from all three core focus areas of NEAFA’s mission,” said Dann. “Our previous president, Rick Grant, had leadership roles with NEAFA. Besides myself, other members of our staff are involved as members as well - Wanda Emerich is a great networker for our students and staff in the industry, and a couple of our research scientists, Sarah Morrison and Marcos Marcondes, are involved as well. Advocacy is so important to have, especially lobbying efforts that help the dairy industry to farm in a way that we think is responsible. The work NEAFA is doing on transportation is also critical. Dairy farms have to have transportation that is able to run during times when there are emergency shutdowns. The networking opportunities that NEAFA provides is wonderful. The NEAFA Annual Meeting or through talking with the board or attending educational meetings – being able to talk and meet with people in the industry is incredibly important. Organizations like NEAFA and NEDPA are helping us move the industry forward. We’re all working together to make sure that we have agricultural practices that benefit our community across the world in an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible manner.”
For more information on the Miner Institute, visit https://www.whminer.org/